This week we spoke to Team Acer’s Scarlett, the legendary Queen of Blades, after her exciting performance at MLG Anaheim.

You chose to play Protoss in an elimination match against DRG, down 0:1. Why did you decide to make what appeared to be such a risky move?
I was actually planning to do so before the series. I’ve played against that build many times on ladder; even if you know its coming, it’s still almost impossible to stop. Harstem and Miniraiser helped me perfect it before the series started and I asked an admin who told me it was alright to switch races between games.

Did you plan to use it against DRG specifically, or was it just to use against any Zerg?
Could have been against any Zerg; but I only wanted to use it once at the tournament and I set the map order up to use it game 2, so he would be thrown off in the 3rd game of the series.

Gotcha. If you had won the first set, would you have still used it? Or was it just dependent on the map?

Yeah it was just dependant on the map, so I would have used it either way. It’s still strong on other maps, but you can die to 9 pools easier on two player maps and Zerg is more likely to go three hatch before pool on Alterzim.

What was DRG’s reaction in the lobby when you switched to Protoss?
At first when game started he thought it was a mistake ^^ You could see the ingame chat when watching.. He said “seriously? OMG” when I confirmed I would play it.

Did you count on that confusion from DRG to make the build more successful? Did you spot any mistakes from DRG in trying to hold your push?
I hoped he would think I would cheese him (4gate or cannon rush) and try to play safely. He actually ended up doing almost the perfect build to defend it instead, but still ended up losing to the Power of Protoss :)

Was there a political aspect to choosing this build? Did you want to make a point that this kind of play from Protoss is too strong?
I guess, it was more just to win and for fun though.

How did you feel when you won, and you saw the crowd’s reaction?

I laughed when I won. Even though I thought it had a high chance of success, it still almost seemed unbelievable when I actually won.

Did DRG seem rattled in that final game, any mistakes or changes to his play? And did he say anything about it in the lobby before the final game?

Not really; he didn’t say anything. And to be a champion like he has many times in the past; you need to be able to recover quickly after tough lossesWould you use Protoss against Zerg again in tournaments that allow it, in the same situational way you used it at MLG? I imagine that having that “in your toolbox”, so to speak, would be a good advantage for you even if you don’t end up actually doing it.
Yea; I have seriously thought about using PvZ in place of ZvZ in the future as a standard matchup for me before now.Is that something you’re more likely to do given the reaction this time, or have you not decided yet?
Still unsure, as I also did very well in ZvZ this past weekend, better than I’ve ever really done before.

Yeah, your ZvZ record was insane at MLG – almost all 2:1 wins, but you seemed more comfortable in the matchup than you have been before. Why do you think you did so well in ZvZ at MLG?
I was much better at predicting the opponent’s builds than usual; the most important thing in ZvZ.

Is that a general skill that you’ve improved at, or did you know this group of opponents better, or was there some other reason for this?

I’ve improved at it a little, but it seems they all have studied my style and tried to blind counter it; so I just switched it up.How would you rate yourself in each matchup right now?
ZvT > ZvP > ZvZ.

So here’s a hypothetical: If you could make any pro player your practice partner for a week, which person would you choose and what would you practice?
I’d probably just practice general ZvZ with soO.. Maybe I’ll ask him after GSL finals :)How do you feel about the North American pro scene? Can it become more competitive if we continue to see tournaments like MLG + BattleGrounds?
It’s rough.. I would be surprised if MLG ran sc2 again; and redbull is mostly Koreans anyways. Not really sure what could be done as the NA only events don’t get near enough viewers to be sustainable.

What’s next for you, how are you feeling, and any shoutouts?
For now just some practice & relaxing in Korea after so much travel in a row ! I’m quite tired now~ Shoutout to Flo & Major for lending me mice at MLG / Redbull :)